Cleridae

Cleridae is a family of beetles commonly called checkered beetles. Its members are often predators or scavengers, and many have patterned bodies.

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Coleoptera: Coleoptera is the insect order comprising beetles, distinguished by hardened forewings called elytra. Cleridae is one family within this order of insects.
Predation: Predation is an interaction in which one organism kills and consumes another. Many clerids hunt other insects, especially in wood and stored products.
Biological pest control: Biological pest control uses living organisms to suppress populations of pests. Predatory clerids can help reduce beetle pests in wood and stored products.
Clerus: Clerus is a genus of checkered beetles whose species commonly prey on wood-boring insects. It exemplifies clerids that hunt beetles beneath bark and in wood.
Polyphaga: Polyphaga is the largest suborder of beetles, containing most described beetle species. Cleridae belongs to this major branch of Coleoptera.
Scavenging: Scavenging is the consumption of dead organisms or their remains. Some clerids feed on insect carcasses or other dead animal matter.
Stored-product pest: A stored-product pest is an organism that infests food or other goods after harvest or manufacture. Some clerids prey on insects that infest stored foods and commodities.
Thanasimus: Thanasimus is a genus of predatory checkered beetles associated with conifer forests. Species in this genus prey on bark beetles and are studied in forest ecology.
Elytron: An elytron is a hardened forewing that covers and protects a beetle’s hindwing and abdomen. The patterned hardened forewings give many checkered beetles their distinctive appearance.
Mimicry: Mimicry is an evolved resemblance that alters how another organism responds to its bearer. Some checkered beetles resemble stinging insects, potentially deterring predators.